We had a very active day today. There were a couple of things that we wanted to accomplish before heading out on Sunday. First and foremost we wanted to get out to Christo Redentor. Originally I thought this was something we could do on our own, but now I know different. There was quite a bit of logistics to get up top. It included one bus, through the favella's and then switching over to another bus to get up to the top of the mountain.

I guess that this is the number 1 attraction here in Rio as the place was packed. As I said earlier the weather has just not cooperated, so when you get up to the top of the mountain, we were pretty well socked in with clouds. That is when you have to make the best of things.

It was all I thought it would be though. With the clouds it was somewhat surreal.

From there we did some tours of Rio's downtown core including the avant guarde Rio Cathedral. After that we headed to a "buffet" lunch. Not really good for 4R$ - kids coughing in line, and foods that we didn't really recognize - so Deb and I went real light on lunch opting instead for a blow out dinner on our last night here. All the meals have been top notch (except the buffet) and with quantities that neither of us could finish. We don't know how to say "doggie bag please" in Portuguese.

After lunch we went to Sugarloaf Mountain. This time it was two separate cable cars up to the top of what was just amazing views. When you see Rio from way up high, it takes your breath away. It's when you come down to ground level and you realize that every Brazilian MUST be born with a spray paint can - the things they've painted and tagged of historical value - they should all be hung out to dry. I mean there's tags EVERYWHERE, every little inch is covered with somebody's initials or whatever they do. It's really such a shame.

Deb and I finished things off at Eclipse - an real nice Italian place just near our hotel. They didn't disappoint. So we're off to the airport in the morning to head to Toronto via Panama. How that makes any sense is above me, but we've got a 12 hour flight not including our layover in Panama. I haven't calculated the total mileage that we've traveled in the last 45 days or so, but I'm sure that we're well over 15,000 miles once we get to Toronto. I'll calculate that when I have a chance.

I'll update a few more sessions once we get to Toronto, but I wanted to thank each and everyone of you who spent time reading all this stuff. It's really great to know that you've got friends who are interested in some of the travels.

Bob & Deb